This article originally appeared in the Financial Post. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Jack Mintz, September 15, 2023
B.C. Premier David Eby, concerned about the cost of living, recently asked the Bank of Canada to hold off any further interest rate hikes. As William Watson argued on this page, Eby, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey should keep to their knitting, especially if their advice could have the contrary result of leading to more inflation.
Besides, the B.C. government is hardly innocent when it comes to affordability. Since taking power in 2017, the NDP has been relentless in raising one tax after another to feed its spending appetite. Many of these tax increases have hit job-creating businesses and high-skilled workers most, but many others have made life less affordable for ordinary B.C. residents by taxing basic services. In some cases, taxes on businesses and products have contributed to more inflation, making the Bank of Canada’s job even harder.
The B.C. NDP is not the first government to pick taxpayers’ pockets persistently. Between 2014 and 2018 the Liberal government of Brian Gallant in New Brunswick carried out a similar agenda of raising almost every conceivable tax. Eventually New Brunswickers had enough and turfed out Gallant in 2018 in favour of Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives, who promised to reduce property taxes.
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